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Other Guidelines
The role of complementary and alternative medicine in the
management of early breast cancer: Recommendations of the European Society of
Mastology (EUSOMA)
How can we address the unmet needs of cancer patients?
The enormous emotional impact of the disclosure of a diagnosis of cancer can
result in fear, confusion and isolation. Fear can be countered by reassurance
and the offer of hope by the responsible clinician. Hope is not a promise, but
a state of mind. Confusion can be countered by improvement in the communication
skills of the practitioner. We welcome the developments in the undergraduate
and postgraduate curricula designed to teach professional development and
communication skills.
At the same time, CAM practitioners, many of whom are members of
the medical profession
[1], need to recognise the efforts and achievements of conventional
medicine. These extend not merely to more humane, empathetic and holistic
clinical practice, but also include the development of userfriendly instruments
capable of measuring all the domains of quality of life, both in the corporeal
and spiritual spheres that are judged important by the patient herself. It is
also a plausible hypothesis that if the patient feels better and spiritually at
ease then this might help her physical recovery via psycho-neuro-endocrine or
immunological pathways. This is another area worthy of research.
Recommendation 3
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Undergraduate and postgraduate students should be taught
communication skills as a central component of professional development.
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Health professionals should work together with the use and
development of 'psycho-metric' instruments in order to capture, evaluate and
ultimately enhance quality of life in both the physical and spiritual domains.
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